Good Connection

Dylan Mulvaney became a household name by documenting her gender transition on TikTok with grace, humor, and unapologetic joy. Her "Days of Girlhood" series invited millions of people — queer and otherwise — into her life, turning personal moments into cultural conversations. But with virality came backlash. The 28-year-old creator became a lightning rod in America's ongoing culture war, facing coordinated harassment campaigns after partnering with brands like Bud Light and Nike. Through it all, she’s continued to lead with optimism, resilience, and a message of visibility. She's spoken at the White House, walked red carpets, and been named Attitude's Woman of the Year, all while staying true to the joyful, theatrical spirit that drew over 9.1 million followers to her in the first place. In March 2025, she released her debut memoir, Paper Doll: Notes From A Late Bloomer, a collection of journal entries and essays documenting her first year of transition. In sharing her story so openly, she’s turned trans visibility and online vulnerability into tools for connection, not just content.

Every parent's favorite YouTuber, Ms Rachel, is kind of like the new generation's Sesame Street — everyone is watching, everyone is learning, everyone comes away from a video a little bit happier, and every video is totally free. With over 16 million subscribers on YouTube, not to mention TikTok and Instagram, her impact is undeniable. The singer, songwriter, and educator is likely best known for "Songs for Littles," an educational music series that helps infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with their language development skills. In all, she has revolutionized the way parents teach their kids in the age of social media.

The biz speak, the hair tucks, the hand gestures — Corporate Erin captures every nuance of desk life with such finesse, it can be hard to accept that she's not real.

This "Manager for the Managerial Logistics for Management McManagement" is actually 38-year-old Lisa Beasley, a Chicago-based actor, comedian, and writer who has carved out a niche for herself online since 2020, and who went viral in 2023 playing the character Erin Throlopolis.

Corporate Erin is a send-up of corporate culture writ large. In her videos, she’s coming to you as if on some group Zoom meeting that you, too, are a part of, welcoming you to a Q1 kickoff, going over KPIs, or touching base during a conference.

With each vocal affectation and well-timed hard swallow, she's poking at a world that many of us know all too well, exposing the humor in the absurdity.

With an audience cresting over half a million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Beasley's reach is strong and growing — and it's easy to see why. She's hilarious, clever, and keeps us entertained as we scroll our way through yet another all-hands (camera off and mic muted, of course).

With a leather-bound notebook in hand and a penchant for fast-food hacks, Jordan Howlett, aka Jordan The Stallion, turns everyday cravings into viral gold. The 28-year-old Oceanside, California, native joined TikTok in 2020 and quickly amassed followers, thanks to his tongue-in-cheek food deep dives. Howlett now boasts more than 14.3 million followers on TikTok, alongside almost 13 million on Instagram and more than 4.3 million on YouTube.

He drew major buzz online last year when actor Donald Glover appeared in one of his TikToks, riffing on their uncanny resemblance. In a similarly cheeky sketch a few months later, Howlett collaborated on a doppelganger video with hip-hop legend Method Man.

"There was never a moment where I was like, 'Oh, I can do this for a living' because I come from a very traditional background where a 9-to-5 job was what stability truly meant," Howlett told Mashable in an earlier interview.

But TikTok turned that notion on its head. "It has allowed me to wake up daily and figure out [how I can] express some kind of creativity," he said.

From church talent nights to comedy stages, Kevin Fredericks, better known as KevOnStage, has built a global comedy career one sketch at a time. The 42-year-old El Paso, Texas, native now balances stand-up tours with nonstop content creation, whether it be for his 1.2 million TikTok followers, 2.2 million Instagram followers, or almost 1 million YouTube followers.

Fredericks isn't afraid to put his life in the spotlight, vlogging his thoughts on everything from food to the reality show Love Island. Last year, Fredericks and his brother Brennon Edwards launched KevOnStage Studios, an OTT (direct-to-consumer) app as a way to "create and monetize their content, at scale, on their own terms." This spring, Fredericks teased his upcoming memoir, Successful Failure, due Sept. 25. The book is his "life story told through all the Ls I’ve taken," he says.

Jennifer Hudson, 43, didn't just bring the heat to Broadway; she’s also made daytime TV a full-on party. Since launching The Jennifer Hudson Show in September 2022, the EGOT-winning singer and actor has called New York City home. One of the highlights of the show is the Spirit Tunnel, a hallway hype ritual that's become a global sensation in its own right. What began as an impromptu backstage serenade by Hudson's team to get her pumped has since blossomed into a choreographed crew performance, complete with personalized chants and theme-song remixes for every guest. Celebrity highlight reels, from Michelle Obama's dance moves to Usher's roller-skating entrance and actor Aaron Pierre's unforgettable viral clip, have become must-share moments, with Spirit Tunnel clips often racking up millions of views on social media.

It's a simple premise, really: a traditionally good-looking dude, often shirtless, chopping wood while breathily speaking in barely hidden innuendo. But that formula sure as heck worked for Thoren Bradley, 33, who's racked up nearly 11 million followers on TikTok. To be frank, people love to thirst online, and Bradley certainly quenches lots of folks' parch.

Of course, that's far from all Bradley has to offer. First of all, splitting wood the way he does is pretty dang impressive to his fans. Second, he's captivated his audiences with his thoughts on world events, delivered alongside clips of him splitting firewood, lifting logs, and reviewing the tools he uses to do it all (axes, lots of axes).

With equal parts grace, guts, and humor, Taryn Delanie Smith went from experiencing housing insecurity firsthand during the pandemic to being crowned Miss New York 2022, the first Black woman to win the title with her natural curls on full display. She went on to place first runner-up at Miss America 2023. But Smith didn't stop there. On TikTok, her sharp comedic sketches have earned her more than 1.5 million followers. You may recognize her as Denise, the receptionist in heaven — a quirky, comforting character whose emotional reach has touched millions. Now an actor and comedian, Smith co-hosts Influenced, a talk show on Amazon Prime, where she blends humor with heart. Whether she’s building empathy through laughter or making a real-world impact, Smith is proof that authenticity can change the game.